Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring product inventory.
Description of Related Art
Food products and other products are typically sold via shelves or hangers. The product is arranged so that the consumer can easily see and remove the desired package or good. Maintaining product inventory in stock typically requires a person to physically check the store shelves or hangers to maintain inventory and display appearance, which can create inefficiencies by way of repeated trips to monitor and/or restock inventory and of the potential for presenting the consumer with empty or nearly empty shelves. Increasing the efficiency of these trips by knowing which products need to be replenished and when would decrease the number of trips necessary to restock a retail store. Furthermore, currently the restocking personnel must carry excess product quantities and varieties as it is never known how much of each product variety will be needed to replenish a specific retail store or a specific shelf in a retail store.
Consequently, it is desirable to have an inventory monitoring system which provides real time accounting of the product on each shelf. Furthermore, it is desirable that the monitoring system be capable of identifying the type of product on the shelf so that both the product type and quantity of product on a shelf can be known. Finally, it is desirable that the monitoring system be cost effective to maximize the return on investment and profit.